If systems remain healthy, Artemis II will perform a translunar injection burn on Thursday, April 2, using Orion's European-built service module.
Artemis II will perform a TLI burn that will send it to the Moon after it drops back toward Earth.
Artemis II will evaluate Orion’s performance, test its radiation shelter, and practice emergency procedures.
The Trans-Lunar Injection burn will place Artemis II on a free-return trajectory around the Moon.
The next Artemis II maneuver is a Trans-Lunar Injection burn expected later tonight at about 23:43 UTC.
Artemis II’s next major maneuver is a trans-lunar injection burn expected at about 23:43 UTC.
Artemis II reached aphelion on April 2, 2026 at 11:43:30 UTC.
Orion Integrity and the Artemis II crew completed a Perigee Raise Burn.
The Orion spacecraft on Artemis II was built by NASA and Lockheed Martin.
Artemis II is intended to demonstrate life support systems with crew for the first time and further validate Orion and the Space Launch System ahead of later Artemis missions.
The Artemis II crew observed Moonrise at T+5 minutes after launch.
Artemis II has lifted off.
Artemis II includes a manual piloting demonstration in high Earth orbit.
The Artemis II crew is expected to take photographs and provide observations of the lunar surface, including some areas of the far side, during the lunar flyby.
The Optical Navigation Camera on Artemis II provides high-resolution imagery to Orion's machine vision algorithm to determine the spacecraft's position and velocity relative to Earth.
The Artemis II camera system will record 4K video and 12MP images and livestream views of both the inside and outside of Orion.
Artemis II will fly two elliptical Earth orbits before entering a 24-hour orbit around the Moon.
Artemis II is a 10-day mission in the vicinity of the Moon.
Artemis II includes a multi-hour lunar flyby on Monday, April 6.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program.